Opening line: “Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after Tyler’s pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die”
There’s not much I can say about FIGHT CLUB that hasn’t been said already (besides I’m not supposed to talk about it -first rule of FC and all) It’s one of those books on everyone’s “to read” list and ultimately it's everything you'd expect it to be; disjointed, astonishing, dark, gritty and fantastic. Although I did wonder how you’d manage to understand what’s going on in the beginning chapters without having seen the movie first because they don’t make a whole lot of sense.
Of course you can’t help but compare the book to the movie. And in saying that I was surprised to learn that Fight Club the movie followed the book faithfully (including dialogue). It is so similar in fact that the book now reads much like a screenplay adaptation, even though it came first. Movies rarely follow the book word for word and subsequently I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d been expecting to. There wasn’t anything extra here, no added insight into Tyler Durden’s character, no dirty scenes that didn‘t make it into the movie. I just kept picturing Brad Pitt and Edward Norton (not a bad thing) but then I also pictured Meatloaf Big Bob and his huge man boobs.
The ending however is completely different and it blew my mind. We see the unnamed narrator’s split personality develop much earlier “I know this because Tyler knows this” It’s not the zenith moment, just a symptom, and he (and we) become aware of it much earlier. We then get to watch “him” try to keep it together, to reign in his space monkeys, to get rid of Tyler by staying awake, to disband project mayhem "Tyler told us you’d say that" and his descent into madness is just brilliant.
The afterwards by the author is also very interesting. Detailing how this all started as a 7 page story he wrote when he was bored at work one day (its included as chapter 6 in the book) and then of course he expanded, added some friends stories (the naughty waiters and film splicing) and wrote what has transformed into the cult classic it is today.
Still, I think everyone should read this book
There’s not much I can say about FIGHT CLUB that hasn’t been said already (besides I’m not supposed to talk about it -first rule of FC and all) It’s one of those books on everyone’s “to read” list and ultimately it's everything you'd expect it to be; disjointed, astonishing, dark, gritty and fantastic. Although I did wonder how you’d manage to understand what’s going on in the beginning chapters without having seen the movie first because they don’t make a whole lot of sense.
Of course you can’t help but compare the book to the movie. And in saying that I was surprised to learn that Fight Club the movie followed the book faithfully (including dialogue). It is so similar in fact that the book now reads much like a screenplay adaptation, even though it came first. Movies rarely follow the book word for word and subsequently I didn’t enjoy this as much as I’d been expecting to. There wasn’t anything extra here, no added insight into Tyler Durden’s character, no dirty scenes that didn‘t make it into the movie. I just kept picturing Brad Pitt and Edward Norton (not a bad thing) but then I also pictured Meatloaf Big Bob and his huge man boobs. The afterwards by the author is also very interesting. Detailing how this all started as a 7 page story he wrote when he was bored at work one day (its included as chapter 6 in the book) and then of course he expanded, added some friends stories (the naughty waiters and film splicing) and wrote what has transformed into the cult classic it is today.
Still, I think everyone should read this book
Great review Buggy. Bet you don't look at soap the same way...BTW...this is the second time I leave the same comment, the first one just sort of disappeared and it couldn't have been censored since I didn't even mention anything about Meat Loafs B.J.
ReplyDeleteLOL yeah the soap, ewww! Sorry about the commenting issues, I have them too, I can't comment if I'm signed in thats why theres no photo by my name on MY blog, don't know why? Its a pain in the ass. Lokster says she hasn't been able to comment at all.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I had to sign up with a Google account and then every time I want to comment I have to sign in. But at least my photo is there...LOL...I just tried it with comment as Name/Url so I just write my name and preview twice and then post. It seems to work.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why this is such pain the ass but thanks for being patient and ALWAYS commenting
ReplyDeleteMaybe I'm the only one that knows the secret of the Post Comment...LOL
ReplyDeleteFight Club is one of the most original films I have ever seen. In addition to a cool enough for life, FC also present material in a new way. Interests me most is that I think the film does not lead us to think about characters.
ReplyDeleteYep I agree. I remember seeing it for the first time and being totally blown away by it.
ReplyDeleteThe movie is amazing. I don't think I've ever seen a movie that followed and surpassed) the book so closely including dialogue. Its unfortunate for the book now actually because the movie is better.
ReplyDeleteYeah Fight Club Movie is very nice. I love this movie. In this movie Fighting shown is awesome. I like this movie.
ReplyDeleteYeah Edit, the fight scenes are really good. Even when Edward Norton is fighting himself(beating himself up) its good
ReplyDelete